Buena Vista City Council held a first reading this past Thursday on an ordinance to enact a cigarette tax.
The proposal under consideration is to impose a 25-cents per pack tax that would generate an estimated $100,000 annually. A second reading on the ordinance is scheduled for Oct. 16, at which time Council could take action to establish the tax, which would take effect Jan. 1.
The budget Council adopted back in the spring anticipates such a tax generating about $50,000 in the second half of the current fiscal year. If Council declines to establish a cigarette tax, the budget would have to be amended to cut an equal amount in spending or find another source of revenue in the same amount.
No citizens spoke at a public hearing on the proposed tax. Council member Steve Webb, who chairs the budget and finance committee that recommended the tax, defended the proposal. He said he’d checked with stores that sell cigarettes inside and outside of the city and found that a pack in Buena Vista sells currently for 18 cents less than in the county or Lexington, which each has a 25-cents per pack tax.
“Nobody’s driving into Buena Vista to save 18 cents,” he said, attempting to refute an argument that’s been made by opponents of the tax. He said he would propose earmarking $10,000 to $15,000 of revenues generated by the tax for the Rockbridge Area Recreation Organization. He suggested the money could be used to purchase uniforms or equipment for youth sports teams.
Brian Kearney, the city’s attorney, advised that City Council can’t commit future Councils to such expenditures. Council can, on an annual basis, budget and appropriate such expenditures but effectively can’t earmark the funding for future years.
No other comments were made following the first reading of the ordinance.
